Spiritual Hiccups - My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad

As we draw close to Christmas, this morning's psalms seem jarring next to images of a babe in a manger, of shepherds, angels, and nativity scenes. Psalm 18 speaks of being in danger from enemies and crying out to God.  And God responded to that cry.



Then the earth reeled and rocked;
   the foundations also of the mountains trembled 
   and quaked, because he was angry. 
Smoke went up from his nostrils, 
   and devouring fire from his mouth; 
   glowing coals flamed forth from him.

It is easy for some to dismiss such images of God as something archaic, a violent God of the Old Testament unlike the God of love we meet in Jesus.  But I've noticed that most children who come from homes with loving parents where they feel safe and secure assume that their mother or father would whip all comers in order to protect them.  And I wonder if that isn't what we see in this psalm.  The childish boast that "My Dad can beat up your Dad" grows out of the sense of security children experience, and the psalmist seems to know something similar.

If one has experienced a security in the love of God, in God's parental care, it is pretty easy to think along such lines.  In an ancient world inhabited by many gods, it is hardly surprising that some Old Testament passages sound a bit like, "My Dad can beat up your Dad."

Jesus does nothing to undermine the idea of God's parental-like love.  Jesus repeatedly calls his followers to trust themselves to God's care.  But Jesus does redefine what God's power looks like.  The Apostle Paul calls this "power made perfect in weakness."  And Jesus made clear what Israel (and the Church in our day) often forgot.  God's parental love was not restricted to them.  Indeed the call of Abraham was so that "all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

I felt very safe and secure as a child, and I probably thought my Dad could beat up some others.  But to my knowledge, he never did.  The safety and security of parental love is generally not experienced in such things.

As we celebrate the birth of one born to "save," we would do well not to reject an image of God as one who can and does protect and provide.  The child born in a manger is not just a nice philosopher who teaches a good way to live.  He is God's power unleashed for us.

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